Funded by
Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO)
Background
DG ECHO introduced in 2022 their Minimum Environmental Requirements (MER), which were made mandatory in 2023, to mainstream environmental considerations across projects and programmes to mitigate the environmental impacts of humanitarian aid. One of those requirements is to conduct a mandatory environmental screening for WASH and shelter & settlements projects. Many tools for environmental screenings exist, but the most comprehensive one, and the most appropriate for humanitarian settings to this day is the Nexus Environmental Assessment Tool (NEAT+). However, improvements and updates are necessary.
DG ECHO has been supporting the NEAT+ tool for several years, notably through the roll out of capacity building trainings through a partnership with Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). DG ECHO has also been a member of the NEAT+ Steering Committee since its creation in 2023. Feedback both from this project and from the members of the Steering Committee has underlined the critical need to improve the NEAT+ tool for wider adoption throughout the sector.
The Environmental Assessment Working Group of the Réseau Environnement Humanitaire has been testing and providing feedback on different environmental screening/assessment tools since 2021 and is a member of the NEAT+ Steering Committee since its creation. Through this, members have been able to develop expertise on environmental screening tools they use. They have started working on a review of various environmental screening tools producing a list of only the most relevant mitigation measures for the selected sectors and activities, which can help review the content of the NEAT+. As such, support for NEAT+ improvements will be guided by the WG’s expertise.
Objective
The overall objective of this assignment is to “improve and streamline the content of the NEAT+ tool (its questions, results, recommendations), to build organisations’ capacity for its use and to increase organisations’ capacity to integrate mitigation measures at the project level”.
It will contribute to the sector’s efforts to further develop the NEAT+ tool, and overall to better integrate environmental mitigation measures at the project level. It will also help build DG ECHO’s partners capacity to use the NEAT+ and rapid environmental screening tools.
Virtual trainings will be carried out to introduce and train to the use of NEAT+.
The INSPIRE+ Consortium is made up of Development Initiatives, IECAH, ODI, FAIREPROD and Groupe URD. It provides the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) with support in developing its policies via research, training, workshops and the dissemination of findings.
Carried out by
